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Data Protection Act 1984/1998

The Data Protection Act (1984) was subsequently amended (1998) to take account of the EC Data Protection Directive (1995). The Directive was an attempt to harmonize the different European national laws across the whole EC.

The UK legislation creates the concept of a data subject and a data user. Data users, ie keepers of databases, must register with the Data Protection Registrar and state the purposes for which they will be using gathered data.

Data subjects, ie individuals whose names appear on the database, have rights under the act to inspect their records.

The act also contains eight “principles” that govern how data should be gathered and used, and how it should be protected from unauthorized copying and modification. These are:

* Personal data must be produced fairly and lawfully.

* Personal data must be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes and not further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.

* Personal data must be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.

* Personal data must be accurate and where necessary kept up to date.

* Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

* Personal data must be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under the 1998 Act.

* Appropriate security measures must be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of or damage to personal data.

* Personal data must not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

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